Administrators at Tallahassee Community College have high hopes for the Wakulla Environmental Institute, which has received $6 million in state and federal funding to date.

Jim Murdaugh, TCC’s president, has talked about it becoming a “global destination” and a “game changer” for Wakulla County. On Wednesday, he told the Democrat’s editorial board that it will be off the grid and “net zero” the moment it opens.

But first it has to be built.

The WEI – which will focus on education, recreation and conservation – began with $4.5 million from the Legislature in 2012. That allowed the college to purchase roughly 160 acres off Highway 319 three miles south of Crawfordville. TCC received an additional $1.5 million earlier this year from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration to use for infrastructure at WEI.

But the federal grant also required TCC to clear numerous hurdles, which WEI Executive Director Bob Ballard described as the “bad news” regarding the grant.

As a result, TCC has yet to approve construction contracts for the 10,000-square-foot WEI building, forcing the college to push back the projected grand opening from March 2015 to July.

“We’re real close (to completing the paperwork),” Ballard said.. “The protocols for what we have to do for the state and for the feds, we have to get those to gel. The building will be complete in July. It may be the end of July, but it will be July.”

Murdaugh has experience taking a concept and turning it into reality. He was executive director of TCC’s Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy when it was transformed into the Florida Public Safety Institute.

He has even higher expectations for WEI, beginning with the building.

“The building has to make a statement,” he said. “It has to show we’re committed to the environment.”